Five Poetic Fates
by 1-1 Marines
Summary: For their actions, five men, all employed by Charon Industries in some form, received fates that fit their actions.


**ME: I noticed something about the fates of Sharkface, Price, Felix, Locus, and Hargrove. They all met ends befitting what they were in life.**

 _One_

Sharkface had longed ceased to use the name he was born with. The nickname his friends had given him was all he had left of them now. As far as he knew, they were all either dead or missing. Regardless, he had never seen any of them amgain.

Being an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper hadn't quite paid well enough, so like his adopted family Sharkface took on work for Charon Industries to supplement his official income. Sure, it wasn't legal to be both an active duty UNSC Marine and a private military contractor, but it's not as if the ODSTs burned down schools for fun. No, they were simply corporate security guards.

Then the fucking Freelancers had murdered his friends just for getting in the way. Sharkface had wound up imprisoned and locked in an isolated cell aboard the UNSC _Tartarus_ , but his hatred for the Freelancers hadn't been quenched.

So when a pair of mercenaries employed by Chairman Malcolm Hargrove of the UNSC Oversight Subcommittee who went by Locus and Felix approached him, he joined their mission without hesitation. Sharkface didn't care that there were colonists on Chorus who would die if they succeeded or that he would be paid both to motivate him and keep the ex-Marine (he had been dishonorably discharged) quiet. All that mattered was taking down Agents Carolina and Washington, two Project Freelancer operatives who had thrown their lot in with Chorus.

Sharkface didn't accept the mercy offered by Carolina; he would not stop until he avenged his teammates.

As a result, multiple 7.62x51mm and 9.5x40mm rounds from, respectively, General Vanessa Kimball and Agent Washington ended his life.

 _Two_

Doctor Aiden Price was the former Counselor of Project Freelancer. Sure, he had joined a band of marauding rapists and murderers in exchange for his own survival, but the psychiatrist only wanted to get out of an increasingly bad situation alive.

So the first chance Price could he hijacked the _Tartarus_ and attempted to head for Earth. The former Counselor had gathered every scrap of evidence he could find to damn Hargrove and the others. The Unified Earth Government would, at the very least, not execute him in exchange for Price's testimony. Realpolitik could've very well saved him. The mercenaries hired to "clear out" a forgotten colony word for Charon Industries had all voluntarily participated in attempted genocide for money (save a dead brute who went by Sharkface, who joined out of a desire for revenge), so Price felt no guilt for betraying them. It was honestly one of the more morally sound actions he had committed in his life.

But somehow the colonists had seized control of one of Chorus's Forerunner tractor beams and ensnared the _Tartarus_ before she could flee out of range. Given the circumstances, Price guessed the locals were using the prison ship as an improvised projectile.

He did not flee the bridge, even though the logical course of action would be to abandon ship and hope to escape Chorus somehow. But Price was a man who was tired of running; quite frankly, he deserved this fate for all he had done, whether it be out of self-preservation or "for the greater good."

"Oh, son of a bitch," Price cursed as he closed his eyes.

 _Three_

Felix reflected on the irony of his and Locus's...relationship.

Once Locus had been a naïve fool who thought he could give a Sangheili freak mercy. It was a war for survival, how could one not be ruthless and expect to live? Felix, in contrast, was stern, merciless, and followed orders. Had it not been for him, Locus would be a corpse on some glassed colony before he hardened and became a real soldier, someone actually capable of living to fight another day.

Now it was inverted. Locus simply wanted to get the job done, even if he did allow for making their victims suffer provided it remained "quick and efficient." Felix, in contrast, drew things out for fun.

Felix would never admit it (he was too much of an egotistical individual), but his mental state had suffered because of the Human-Covenant War. As a result, he kept Locus around in order to compensate for his psychological issues. He had warned the shrink, Price, not to analyze him after asking a rhetorical question.

Now Felix plummeted to his death, cursing himself for not doing the smart thing and running away like his partner had wanted. Locus had left him to live or die on his own, and the mercenary had suffered for his poor choice.

"Fuck it," he said simply before hitting the ground.

 _Four_

After his time in the UNSC Army, like Felix Locus just couldn't return to civilian life.

So he worked for Malcolm Hargrove, Chairman of the UNSC Oversight Subcommittee and CEO of Charon Industries, as a mercenary. The CO he remembered most vividly, an Army Ranger Captain, had told him he was nothing but a suit of armor and a gun. It was why he continued to fight even though his new missions went against everything he once believed in; Hargrove gave Locus a second chance to follow orders and achieve objectives. Sure he was paid well, but the veteran soldier cared not for the credits he received. He was a walking weapon who completed his missions at all costs again and again; lather, rinse, and repeat.

Now he left the Simulation Troopers and Agent Washington after throwing his SAW to Felix. "I'm not a soldier," Locus had told his former partner. "I'm a monster, like you."

There was a reason he hadn't killed the insane man; Locus knew they were both monsters, and even if he was now trying to make amends the ex-mercenary did not feel fit to pass judgement on Felix.

Locus may have survived and escaped prison, but now his illusions of being a professional soldier were shattered. His time in the employment of Charon Industries was one of being a mass murderer.

 _Five_

Malcolm Hargrove, Chairman of the UNSC Oversight Subcommittee and CEO of Charon Industries, was furious.

His mercenaries had failed their simple task of exterminating a colony full of idiots who willingly bled and died over politics rather than anything actually important, like money, power, or economic resources. Now Hargrove's crimes had been exposed, and the masses now knew of the illegal acts he had committed to enrich himself.

Hargrove was, to put it mildly, fucked. The President of the Unified Earth Government, Doctor Ruth Charet, hated being on the same planet let alone being in the same branch of government as him. Now his post as Chair of the UNSCOS was closed to him forever, to be filled by another man or woman (assuming the Oversight Subcommittee itself was not disbanded). Charon Industries assets would undoubtedly be frozen and the corporation would lose all its contracts with the UNSC. That was _before_ the fact he would undoubtedly be put on trial, found guilty, and executed for mass murder.

So he ordered the Captain of the _Staff of Charon_ to set a course for Chorus. If nothing else, Hargrove would take the colonists, his pathetic mercenaries, the Simulation Troopers, and the Freelancers down with him. He would not hide like some pathetic street urchin; he would have his revenge.

 **ME: A/N: I made this story to comment on the poetic justice the five big figures of Charon Industries received.**

 **Sharkface-was willing to commit genocide if it meant getting his revenge and rejected Carolina's offer of mercy. Was gunned down unceremoniously by Wash and Kimball.**

 **Price-attempted to abandon his allies (even if they were, as Felix lampshaded, "Fucking disgusting murderers,"). Got killed before he could flee by the people he put at risk in exchange for his own life.**

 **Felix-overly reliant on Locus to compensate for his insanity. Got killed after being abandoned by him.**

 **Locus-believed himself to be a professional. Ended up having his illusions shattered even if he lived.**

 **Hargrove-reliant on his image as the benevolent Chairman of the UNSCOS and CEO of Charon Industires to get what he wants. Got exposed to the public as a mass murderer, ruining his chances of further illicit financial success.**


End file.
